With a Little help of Jealousy and Pranks
by mionemobp
Summary: James Sirius and Charlotte are best friends. This tells how they get from there to admitting their feelings.


The sky was a light blue. Charlotte and James were sitting at their place, under a tree next to the black lake. They were laughing about their last prank, turning everyone who wasn't in Gryffindor red to cheer them on for the Quidditch Game. It didn't fade away until the end of the game. Now it was time to discuss the next prank…the Christmas break prank. Charlotte had an idea for one. It hadn't been done yet by them, but she wanted to see it done soon.

"James, we should turn everyone in the castle into furry creatures. There is a potion that we can use for it. Just sneak it into the teachers' drinks. I think your uncle Charlie would find it funny, after a while."

"I bet he would. We wouldn't have to drink the water it was in. Can we do it on a large scale though?"

"It wouldn't have to be on a large scale. It's just the staff. We would only need about fifteen vials of it to give it to the house elves. They love us, so they will do whatever we ask. One batch is good enough to make fifteen vials. Maybe even more."

"Alright, let's find the potion…"

His eye caught something in the corner, but he turned his attention back to Charlotte. She saw, and felt something weird.

"You like her? You like Lauren Henderson? She's the resident bitch of Hufflepuff."

"Why? Have you got a crush on me? Would it damage your soul if I liked someone else?"

"Hahahaha, you wish. Don't be so dramatic."

The bell to end break rang, and they walked to potions class together. It was the best potion to learn to make, the Elixir to Induce Euphoria. When they finished it, she sent James to the front of the room to turn a vial of it into Professor Eberhardt. She hurried and put some in an extra four vials, so she could put it into her friends' drinks and make them super giddy. It was a perfect prank to do, and lunch was coming up, so it was the opportune moment to prank James.

"Let's go? I am starving."

They went to the Great Hall and sat down. James had to go to the bathroom, so she took that time to pull off the prank. Charlotte put a bit of the potion into their drinks. Just as she was finishing, Molly, Tess, and Fred came in, and she directed them on where to sit. James came and sat down, and his hand went for his drink. It didn't take long for them to be giddy, and she started laughing her head off.

James looked at Lauren and started laughing giddily. That was when Charlotte stood up. "You guys might want to check your drinks next time, before you take a sip. Something might have…slipped into it." And then she ran before they could get it through their heads that she had pranked them. It was fading away slowly, so they would understand soon.

…

After the end of Charlotte's next class, she was feeling extremely tired, so she trudged up to Gryffindor Common Room, but she ran into someone in the entrance hall…a Ravenclaw.

"Oh, sorry…brown haired person."

"Oh, it's fine…red haired person."

"That's my birth name, but my friends call me Daniel."

"My friends call me Charlotte."

"Charlotte, it's nice to meet you. I see you're a fan of the Holyhead Harpies."

"Yeah, my best friend's mom used to play for them. Ginny Potter."

"Oh, fun. Yeah, she's pretty cool."

"Yeah, what about you? What team do you support?"

"I am a big fan of Puddlemere United. My dad's the coach. Oliver Wood."

"That sounds so fun. How are you in Ravenclaw? No offense."

"My mom is Cho Wood. She was in Ravenclaw. I got the smart gene. My dad isn't as happy, but he is supportive."

James looked across the hall at Charlotte and Daniel talking, and for some reason, he felt something. He couldn't stop thinking about her for some reason, and it was driving him crazy. He then thought about her laugh and her smile, and her eyes. 'Oh my god,' he thought.

"James, are you okay?"

He opened his eyes and saw Charlotte looking at her with big, blue eyes. She had her eyebrows risen in an amused manner, but she still looked worried.

"Nice prank, Charlotte."

"I tried."

"You succeeded. Who was that?"

"Daniel Wood. I ran into him on the way in from Herbology. Why? Are you jealous?"

"You wish." He was about to open his mouth again, when Charlotte spoke again.

"Besides, I don't want a boyfriend. I want to focus on Quidditch."

Fred came up behind them, and put his arms around their shoulders. "How cute. The Gryffindor lovebirds."

"Ha. Yeah right Fred, James and I are just friends."

"Yeah, just friends."

They walked up to the Gryffindor Common Room, where they went off to their separate common room. Charlotte walked to her bed and started to pet her cat, Emerald. She was thinking about Lauren, and how she had caught James' attention.

"Does he not think I am not interesting? Or that I'm not pretty?"

Little did she know that over in James' room, he was thinking the exact same thing.  
…

Over the next few weeks, James was weird around Charlotte. He didn't hang out as much with her, and she was starting to get lonely. She hung out with Fred a lot more, telling him her problems, and he understood. But she didn't want him to replace James. She just wanted James back.

A few weeks after the "lovebirds" incident, James caught up with Charlotte.

"Hey what's up Char?"

"Oh, you're talking to me now?"

"What do you mean?"

"We used to hang out all the time James. And now, you avoid me in the halls, and we only really hang out at Quidditch. You treat me like a Slytherin. Is there a reason for that?"

"Hey James. Hey short person. What's going on?"

"Lauren, this is a private conversation between James and I."

"James, when the hobbit is done talking to you, come find me at lunch." She kissed him, before backing away.

"What did you just call me?"

"A hobbit?"

Charlotte pulled out her wand and smiled. "Reducio." She watched as Lauren shrunk to her height. "Who's the hobbit now?" She turned to James. "James, we used to be best friends, but I guess those days are over, since I can't even tell you anything anymore. So see you later."

"Charlotte, wait…" but she didn't. She continued to walk away, and towards, Fred, Molly, and Tess.

…

Charlotte and Fred became really close friends after that. She went to him for everything, ignoring James and Lauren whenever they were together. She knew that she could still be friends with him while he was dating another girl, but if he was going to completely ignore her, then he could be friendless for all she cared.

Fred talked her into pulling a prank on Lauren one day in November, with the sentence, "We miss him too." They worked on an ageing potion. She wanted her to grow into an old lady, so James would think of that every time they kissed. On the day of, Charlotte used the disillusionment spell on Fred, and he took the potion over to where James and Lauren were sitting, and he was able to pour it into her water without getting caught by either of them.

Once Lauren took a drink of her water, it started to affect her. But they had done something wrong with the potion, because instead of getting older, she was getting younger. She was becoming a baby right before their eyes. "That's not supposed to happen," Charlotte whispered to herself. James knew she had done it though, and he looked over at her with a glare.

She ran out of the Great Hall and up the stairs to try to get away from him. He chased after her, and caught up to her just as she was getting to the third floor. He grabbed her arm, and pulled her closer to him.

"No! Let me go!"

Turning her around, he looked at her for a moment before he started talking. "Why'd you do it Char?"

"Why did I do what?"

"Why did you prank her?"

"What makes you think that I did it?"

"Because you hate her Char. So why did you do it?"

"Because I am in love with you James. I was wrong when I said I didn't want a boyfriend. I do want one, but I don't just want anyone James. I want you. I am in love with you, and I thought it was just friendship, but it's so much more than that."

"You're not with Fred?"

"Fred is with Tess. He knows how I feel about you. He knows I love you."

James looked at her face, wondering if she was lying. He had wanted to be with her, but why would she wait until he was dating a girl to tell him? Why couldn't she have told him before? Not knowing what to say, he turned around and walked away, leaving Charlotte alone in the hall.

Charlotte walked over to the wall, leaning against it, sobbing. He had gone back to Lauren, the girl she couldn't stand. She had poured her heart out to him, and he had said nothing. So that was how Fred found her, half an hour later.

"He's a douche."

"But sadly, he's my douche."

"Well, maybe the dumbass will come around."

"Maybe he will. But it'll take him a million years. He never does things that fast, you know that."

"True."

"Thanks Fred. I think I am going to go for a walk. I could use the fresh air."

"Well, don't be too long, and don't get hurt."

"I won't."

She walked outside, and out to her and James' spot, where they used to sit all the time. She hadn't been there in months. Sitting down, she looked around and smiled. It felt strangely good to be back there, and she knew things would start getting better soon. She leaned her head against the tree trunk and closed her eyes, breathing in the cool and refreshing air.

"I had this idea too."

"Oh, James, hi."

"Hey."

Charlotte got up and made to leave, but James stopped her. "I need to talk to you Char."

"No, you're just going to yell at me and make me cry again, and I can't."

"You cried? You never cry."

"Well, I did today."

James pulled her close and hugged her. "I'm sorry I didn't say anything after you told me how you felt…I broke up with Lauren."

"Why?"

"Because I can't kiss her without thinking of kissing a baby."

Charlotte laughed out loud at that. "That was the idea."

"Also, it wouldn't be fair for her. For me to be with her, but in love with another girl."

"There's another girl? No, I can't…" she tried to walk away, but he wouldn't let her.

"She has brown hair and blue eyes, and she has a spot by her chin. And she has a temper, and a sense of humor that not many understand. Oh, and she's in Gryffindor."

"You're in love with Rose? That's sick James."

"No, I'm in love with you Charlotte. I love you. Even though you have kind of a twisted mind sometimes."

"You love me?"

Rather than answering her with words, he leaned over and kissed her. It wasn't long and passionate, or short and sweet. It was medium length. "Does that answer your question Char?"

"Yeah, it does."

"Good, because I do love you."

"And I love you too."


End file.
